Welcome to the Adult Summer Reading Club 2017

Saturday, January 27, 2018

February may be the shortest month of the year, but there is no shortage of new books in which to indulge yourself...look for the libraryreads.org logo to find librarians' favorites.

The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson

In 1960, 21-year-old Angie and her older, handsome husband
Paul Glass are living what she views as a deliriously happy, ideal life in
Wisconsin with their young son. A call
from Paul’s seventeen-year-old niece Ruby is disturbing enough when Ruby tells
Paul her mother, Silja, has left her and her father, but then she tells Paul
his brother Henry, her father, has killed himself. At Angie’s insistence, she and their son
travel with Paul to Stonekill, NY to assist Ruby with the final arrangements,
but when they arrive at the custom made glass home at the edge of the forest,
Angie sense a darkness filled with secrets, but just what the repercussions of
these secrets will have on their lives is more than Angie can fathom. As Henry Glass’s story and that of the entire
Glass family is revealed, a less than perfect story unfolds. Told partly in flashbacks, mainly through
Silja’s past as a young immigrant in New York City, the narrative explores
social change and mores of World War Ii and beyond, including and especially
women’s roles. Using bright-eyed,
optimistic, at times naïve women, who may be troubling to some readers, the
Glass’s story unfolds. In the end, each
woman shows they are much more capable, and much stronger than anyone gave them
credit for being.

The Hush by John Hart

Johnny Merrimon and Jack Cross have been best friends for
their entire lives; now, in their early twenties, each has taken a different
path since the events of ten years ago that shook not only their friendship,
but the entire North Carolina town: Jack is a newly minted attorney working at
a high-powered firm and Johnny is living off-the-grid on 6,000 acres of land he
owns, Hush Arbor. The Hush has been in
his family for generations and Johnny has come close to losing it several times. The Hush holds secrets, many evil, and Johnny
has learned to live along side of it, respecting its powers. When a local businessman/hunter who has been
trying to buy Johnny’s land is found dead, Johnny is arrested as the suspect,
but released when the medical examiner testifies that there is no way a single
human man could have inflicted such damage to another man. Embroiled in a court battle of his land,
fighting for his freedom and keeping the secrets of the Hush, Johnny turns to
the one person he feels his can trust about all: Jack, putting Jack in an
impossible situation, testing their friendship in a way that has never been
done before. John Hart is a master at
evoking the Deep South with its folklore and many heinous acts that were
committed over the years and the scars left on the descendants.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

When two groups of colleagues set out on a corporate retreat
in the Australian wilderness, the five men emerge within the allotted time, but
the women are late, and when they arrive at the end of the trail, one woman,
the one with the only cell phone and working flashlight, missing. Each of the women has a different version of
what happened to Alice Russell in the woods.
Federal Agent Aaron Falk and his partner Carmen Cooper travel south from
Melbourne when they learn the name of the missing woman who has been an
informant for Falk and Cooper regarding a possible money laundering
scheme. Has someone learned of Alice’s
cooperation with authorities? Does this has something to do with her daughter
and the daughter of her colleague, both of whom has been involved in a high
school bullying incident, or as crazy as it sounds, does this have something to
do with a long dead serial killer who was in the area at one time and whose son
has vanished and is presumed to be still alive.
It quickly becomes clear that Alice did not have any fans in the group,
but did someone hate her enough to murder her or was this a tragic
accident. Cleverly told, the plot shifts
between the investigation and the weekend in the wilderness. Complex characters must depend on one another
for survival in the rugged wilderness and during the investigation if they are
to stay away from suspicion.

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

This debut novel feels familiar at first but by the end is
like nothing you’ve ever read before. The
first part, “Folly”, tells the story of Alice, a young New York editor, and her
deepening relationship with a much older, award winning author, Ezra
Blazer. As their relationship grows,
Alice finds herself surprised by the joy she finds in it, during the time the
Iraq War is beginning. The second
section “Madness” is Amar’s story. Amar
is an Iraqi-American man who, at the end of 2008 has made a detour to London on
the way to visit his brother in Kurdistan.
As Amar sends the weekend detained in a holding room in Heathrow, his
story is told in flashbacks. Amar cannot
imagine why he would be detained: to him, his life has been very banal and he
poses no threat to anyone. The third
section of the novel, brings the two narratives together as Ezra is interviewed
for a BBC program using the music he would bring with him were he stranded on a
desert island as a springboard for conversation. Lyrica and startling, humanity and our
relationships to each other, ourselves, our environment, and the world at large,
are viewed from many different angles, focused through different lenses,
creating a changing perspective with the slightest shift.

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

First-grader Zach Taylor knows that to do during a lockdown
drill at his school, but when a gunman enters the school and kills his friends,
teachers, and older brother, there is no way anyone could be prepared for what
happens next. Even as a town buries its
dead, Zach’s mother Melissa looks for justice for her young son, holding the
parents of the shooter, long time members of the school community, responsible
for their son’s actions. As Zach watches
his mother’s grief turns to anger, what remains of his family fall apart, and
tries to deal with his own feelings of loss, he turns to books and art to heal
his grief, his anger, and his heart, he begins to demand, in the way only a
six-year-old could, the same of his parents, showing them the way out of their
grief, finding that it is possible to still live, to show love and compassion,
have empathy for others even with their acute loss. This heartbreaking story is told through
Zach’s eyes in an authentic voice with an honesty that only a child’s view
could bring to this tragic situation where there are no easy answers, only
healing and forgiveness.

As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner

After the death of their infant son in 1918, Thomas and
Pauline Bright decide to move their three daughters Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa
from the family tobacco farm in Quakertown, PA to Philadelphia where Thomas
will be his uncle’s assistant undertaker and where they hope they will be able
to offer their daughters the chance for a better life. As the family slowly assimilates into their
new home, they watch young men leave to serve in the Great War, and then in
horror as thousands die from the Spanish flu.
Drawing on strength they never knew they had, the young women fight to
keep their family together, and alive, and to save the orphaned baby they take
in and grow to love as their own. In the
years following the war and the flu, the family rebuilds its life and faces new
challenges, and truths, as each member reassesses what is most important to
them and how much they are willing to fight to keep what means the most to
them. This detailed and nuanced look at
a family living not only within itself but within its extended family, the
society of a large city, and the tragedy of war and pandemic, reaffirms the
resilience of human nature and the willingness to continue to try and live,
even to make life better, under the most dire of circumstances.

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern

This homage to libraries illustrates the draw of libraries
and how they become what each user needs at just the right time. Kit, a librarian, has come to Riverton, New
Hampshire, where no one knows about her past, the bad decisions she made, and
the tragedies she endured because of those decisions and the decisions of
others; she is able to come to work, lose herself in the books and quietness of
the library, and forget her past. All
that is about to change:
fifteen-year-old Sunny arrives to perform court ordered community
service after stealing a dictionary and must spend the summer working at the
Robbers Library. Sunny is home-schooled
by her off-the-grid parents and has lived a less than traditional life, has no
friends her own age, but is curious about the world beyond what her parents
teach her, and eager to challenge some of their ideas. Rusty, an unemployed Wall Street trader, has
come to Riverton hoping to regain some traction in his life. This trio is thrown together at first, and
then drawn together, each taking stock of how their lives have unfolded
bringing them to this point, and how they can rebuild their lives, making their
own decisions to determine their futures.
This novel, populated by delightful and eccentric characters, is a true
love song to libraries and all they offer beyond books.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott

Ten years ago, six Oxford university friends spend a week in
a French farmhouse. Everything seemed to
be perfect until Severine. The girl next door showed up, causing the tensions
that already existed between the six friends to flare up, especially for Kate
Channing and her now ex-boyfriend Seb.
No one has seen nor thought of Severine since she disappeared on the
last morning the friends were in France, seen on CCTV getting on a bus. Ten years later, her body is found in a
filled in well behind the farmhouse and the French police have come to England
to ask more questions of the five remaining friends, Theo having been killed in
Afghanistan. Kate has lost touch with
Seb, has had occasional contact with Caro and Tom, and has remained close with
Lara and now finds herself at the center of a murder investigation threatening
everything she has including a business she has been building, and even
possibly her freedom. As Kate begins to
spend more time with her once close friends she wonders if one of them could be
a murderer; as secrets begin to emerge, the kaleidoscope shifts shoring a much
different picture of the life Kate thought she has and the past she
remembers. Thoughtful with slow building
tension this debut will slowly draw you into this tangled web of relationships
and hold your interest until the very end.

The Storm King by Brendan Duffy

Fourteen years ago, Nate McHale left his hometown of
Greystone Lake in the Adirondacks and never looked back. Now a successful surgeon in Manhattan, he is
happily married, has a delightful three-year-old daughter, and has all but put
the tragedies and crimes of his teenage years firmly out of his head, leaving
them firmly in the past. But the lake
has a way of giving up all its secrets eventually; a body has just been found,
and Nate is making his way home, just ahead of a major hurricane, to attend the
funeral. Reunited with his high school
best friends, Nate realizes the sins of their teenage years are being revisited
by a new generation, and some of their secrets were not a secret as they
thought. As the hurricane bears down on
the Northeast, Nate’s past comes crashing into his present, and he must face
what he left behind fourteen years ago before the past destroys them all. Taut and fast-paced, the plot picks up steam
and strengthens like a hurricane, lulls as the eye of the storm passes over,
and then builds to a final feverous pitch.
There are surprises with each new page, and no detail is wasted with all
loose ends woven together to create a final, sinister picture of tormented
lives, and, as the storm ends, a glimmer of redemption for anyone who seeks it.

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

Polly and Adam are just passing through Belleville,
Delaware, Polly with plans to head west, Adam, with no discernable plans. They are magnetically drawn to each other and
find themselves staying in this town for one steamy summer, each lying to the
other, and perhaps themselves, about their pasts and their futures, but
together for this moment. As the summer
unfolds and someone dies, it becomes unclear in the murky heat, if this is all
part of a plan or just happenstance from a series of seemingly unrelated
incidents. As Polly’s and Adam’s stories
are revealed, it becomes even more unclear what each is looking for, from life
as well as from the other, and their relationship becomes increasingly
dangerous the more entangled they become with each other. Where will it all end and who will be left
standing is just one of the many mysteries that is slowly revealed in this
psychological suspense novel told in the best noir tradition by one of the best
crime novelists writing today.

The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin

Emma Colley, a trauma surgeon, and Zadie Anson, a pediatric
cardiologist have been best friends since they met at a pre-med camp in high
school. Roommates through college, they
both continue to be big parts of each other’s busy lives in Charlotte, NC, harboring
secrets from their third year residency, shared, and individual, but most
involving Nick Zenokostas. The friends
think their secrets can stay hidden in the past and from each other, but when
Nick reappears in their lives, the two women must closely reexamine their
pasts, their shared history, and what, if the secrets they each hold, are
revealed, the consequences will be and whether their friendship can
survive. The narrative is told from both
Zadie and Emma’s points of view, in both present time and during their critical
year of residency, as each considers the choices she made and how those choices
affect each personally and professionally.
Warm and wise, at times humorous, at times heartbreaking, Martin’s debut
novel is full of live and love.

The Driest Season by Meghan Kenny

Kenny’s debut novel, which expands on her prize winning
short story of the same title, is a coming of age novel that is exquisite in
its quietness, as it tells the story of not-quite-sixteen-year-old Cielle and
how she copes with and tries to reassemble her life in 1943 Boaz, Wisconsin on
her family farm after she finds her father hanging in the barn. The farm has been suffering from wide-spread
drought and is under threat of being lost now that there is no one to farm
it. Cielle takes every occurrence and
action very much to heart from her first kiss to a horse-riding accident, her
father’s last cup of coffee being discarded and washed, to her sister’s
boyfriend joining up and leaving for war, and tries to reorder it all within
her life as she burgeons from a young girl in to a young woman while holding
fast to all she cherished as a child, with the new knowledge that things change
in an instant and as they do, we nor the world around us can ever be the same
again.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Originally published thirteen years ago in Australia, this
dense novel begins when Lily’s roommate Amy disappears but quickly turns into
Lily’s story when she has trouble paying her rent, cannot turn to her
self-absorbed, often greedy family; she then is diagnosed with a
life-threatening disease and her life oddly becomes intertwined with Spencer,
the NYPD detective assigned to Amy’s case.
As Lily helps Spencer uncover what he needs to know to find Amy, and as
she begins the battle of a lifetime, she begins to uncover things about her
past, things that surprise and startle, but help pieces fall into place about
her life. It is the characters, their
stories, and their souls that are important to the plot, that keep the plot
moving forward. Mystery and intrigue add
additional interest in this book that deserves wide-spread readership and is
sure to win more fans for Paullina Simons.

Look for Her by Emily Winslow

Annalise Wood disappeared as a teenager while riding her
bicycle home from school just outside of Cambridge in 1976. In 1992, a body was found in a shallow grave
that was declared to be Annalise, though the murderer was never found. Annalise achieved a morbid celebrity status
in her town of Lilling, and decades later, several events associated with
Annalise arise bringing the case back to the forefront and causing the cold
case unit of the local police department to take a closer look. Local psychologist Laura Ambrose has two
young women seeking her services within a short time of each other, each
claiming a connection to Annalise. DNA
evidence surfaces and gives Investigator Morris Keene hope that he may be able
to restart his career; teaming up with his former partner, Chloe Forhmann, just
back from maternity leave, he begins to retrace steps and clues, unearthing
more questions than answers, questions that change the way everyone has thought
about the Annalise Wood case for over a quarter of a century. Is it possible she had a child during the
year she was said to be in France? Is there a connection to the recent drowning
of a young woman? And why does
everything keep pointing in the one direction that makes no sense? Slowly and carefully, layers are peeled back,
revealing a much different story than was first told, creating a new picture
which will turn everything about the case on its heels and change
everything. Deliberate, thoughtful
plotting leads readers through a twisty narrative until the final shocking
conclusion.

Friday, January 5, 2018

How many times do people feel there is not enough time in
their lives: not enough hours in a day, not enough time with a child, a spouse,
or lover, not enough time to themselves?
Rachel does not have that problem: she has the opposite problem: she
cannot die. Over two thousand years ago,
she made a contract with God: her son would life, but in exchange, Rachel and
the boy’s father, Elazar, must live for eternity. After dozens of husbands, hundreds of
children, living in almost every country, Rachel is an 84-year-old widow living
in Manhattan with a failing family business with an unemployed son who seems to
have no direction. Though she adores her
granddaughter and great-grandson, Rachel knows she will need to leave them soon,
and the only way for Rachel to be “reborn” is through fire. In addition to her day to day woes is Elazar:
he has been stalking her throughout time, convinced they belong to each other
and are each other’s only true loves (this has not stopped him from having as
many wives as Rachel has had husbands over the years). Rachel is tired, her memories and past
experiences weigh heavily on her; as she reflects on her past lives, she
wonders if she will ever be able to escape what she now considers her curse, or
if she is destined to walk this mortal coil forever. This smartly written book is told with humor
and heart, exploring the bonds that link families through the years, and the
importance of a restful death and everything that comes in between. Listen to The Library Show on www.hunterdonchamberradio.com at 11:00 am on Thursday February 22 to hear an interview with author Dara Horn.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Anna Fox, child psychologist, has not left her Harlem home
in almost a year. She overmedicates
herself with pills (prescribed) and alcohol (not recommended) as she tries to
overcome her severe agoraphobia. Her
daughter and husband no longer with her and she has her tenant David to help
her with tasks that require her to leave her house, such as garbage removal,
and relies on grocery and pharmacy deliveries for her basic needs. Anna also carefully studies her neighbors
from behind her camera lens and sees the things people do when they think no
one is watching, including her neighbor’s wife being stabbed by an unseen
assassin. Anna calls 911 but is quickly
not only discredited by one of the detectives dispatched to investigate, but is
accused of being delusional or attention seeking, having made up the
incident. Anna knows her pills and
drinking are a problem, but she also knows what she saw. She tries to come up with a way to convince
the skeptics what she saw and in doing so unwittingly begins to face her own
trauma, the one that led do her current condition. This thriller is as dark and twisty as
classic noir; do not look away from this fast-paced original thriller for one
second or you may miss something.This book is already a huge favorite with librarians and bookstore owners. Don't miss it!

The Wife by Alafair Burke

Angela Powell, a single mother with a tragic past she is
trying to keep hidden, has reinvented herself: she has gone from being a
caterer in East Hampton to being the wife of Jason, an NYU economics professor
and media darling, between his consulting firm and two best-selling books. Angela, who has spent her life trying to
avoid the spotlight, is able to live quietly in their Greenwich Village
carriage house with her 13-year-old son whom, though he never formally adopted,
Jason treats as his own. Angela’s
carefully crafted life threatens to come tumbling down when one of Jason’s
interns accuses him of sexual harassment.
When another woman, Kerry Lynch, makes an even more egregious claim,
Jason goes from being adored in the media to being vilified as a fallen
star. Kerry’s disappearance makes the
police, the media, and even Angela, take a closer look at Jason. As their perfect façade begins to crumble,
Angela must decide whether to stand by Jason and risk her past being exposed,
or make plans of her own. As this page
turner unfolds, Angela’s narrative makes several different twists until all her
secrets are finally revealed in the very end, casting her story and her truths
in a much different light. Highly
recommended. Another highly anticipated thriller by the daughter of James Lee Burke.

Scone and Scoundrels by Molly MacRae

Janet and her daughter Tallie, Tallie’s friend Suzanne, and Janet’s
friend Christine have settled into life in Inversgail, Scotland nicely. Christine is glad to be back with her parents
and Janet is living her dream co-owning Yon Bonnie Books and the attached tea
room and bed and breakfast with the three other women. Local English teacher Gillian Bennett has
arranged for best-selling environmentalist author Daphne Wood return from
Canada to her native Scotland where she will be the author in residence for the
semester, but before she even arrives, Janet realizes how difficult the
reclusive author will be from the list of demands she sends ahead. When an American staying at the bed and
breakfast is killed outside a local pub, Daphne declares she will investigate
and Janet and company must help after solving a previous murder in
Inversgail. Janet wants no part of
Daphne and her yappy god Rachel Carson, but then Daphne is found dead after
eating scones from the tea room and the ladies must solve her murder to clear
their name and save their reputation.
The west coast of the Scottish Highlands is a lovely setting for a
bookstore/tea room and for this series.
The local characters add color and welcome Christine and Suzanne home
and take Janet and Tallie in as their own.
The murders and investigations are well-plotted and paced and their
resolution offers a little surprise. This
warm and inviting series is sure to quickly become a fan favorite. Perfect to cozy up with on a cold winter night.

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates

Less than two hours north of New York City, the woods near
Grist Mill Road hold the secrets from the summer of 1982: three friends,
Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew, become involved in a senseless, incomprehensible
crime that will inform their lives over the next twenty-six years. Now living in New York City, their three
lives will interest again in ways unimaginable even though they are living
through them. As the past slowly creeps
back into the present, it becomes clear that what happened in the woods did not
stay in the woods and that the past unresolved can have irrevocable
consequences that not all of them will be able to live with in this deliciously
creepy gothic novel that surprises with each revelation and will keep readers
rapt while they untangle the events that have created relationships from which
no one can escape unscathed.

Brass by Xhenet Aliu

This debut novel tells the story of Elsie, the daughter of
Lithuanian immigrants, a waitress at the Betsy Ross Diner in Waterbury,
Connecticut, who becomes involved with Bashkim, a married Albanian cook, and
quickly finds herself pregnant, and hopeful Bashkim will not only not bring his
wife to America, but will divorce her and marry Elsie, so that the two can
raise their daughter Luljeta, Lulu, together.
Seventeen years later, many things have come easy to Lulu, but in one
day a rejection letter from NYU and her first suspension from school, throw her
for a loop, making her feel that she will be trapped in the once industrial
town in Connecticut. Determined and
headstrong, she sets out to find her past, and the father she never knew. Told in alternate chapters, Elsie and Lulu
tell their story, the story of a mother’s fierce love for her daughter and a
daughter who thinks she needs to know from where she came in order to know who
she is in order to know who she is and where she is going in this modern
American Dream story.

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland

Vivian Miller, her husband Matt, and their four children
live in suburban Virginia where Vivian is a CIA counterintelligence analyst who
is working to uncover Russian sleeper cells in the United States and bring in
their leaders in the hopes of receiving a promotion to continue supporting her
family. Reviewing files one day, Vivian
is shocked to see someone’s face who is very close to her and with that one
revelation she realizes the life she has been living is a lie and that she has
just put her entire family and their lives in jeopardy. Now Vivian is faced with the decision whether
to uphold the promises she made to defend her country against all threats or
weather to keep her family intact and safe; not knowing who to trust, Vivian finds
herself in a race against time and can only hope she makes the right choices or
risk losing everything. Readers will
race through this fast-paced thriller eager to untangle all the lies and deceit
and will be left with an unsettling feeling at the ending and perhaps the hope
of a sequel.

Green by Sam Graham-Felsen

Boston 1992: six-grader Dave is one of only a few white boys
at his public middle school. He’d rather be at the private school with his
brother Benno, but his liberal minded parents say that Benno has special needs,
but that Dave is fine where he is. Trying to fit in, he tries to dress cool and
exhibit his basketball prowess, both of which get him mocked even more than he
already it. Dave finds a friend in
Marlon, a black boy who lives nearby Dave in public housing; Marlon is
everything Dave wants to be: smart, confident, academically successful, a good
singer, and comfortable with the girls.
As the two try to assimilate into each other’s worlds, their differences
begin to show and cause a riff in their friendship, cracks that Dave cannot
understand: all he knows is that he misses his friend. Readers are certain to fall for Dave---and
Marlon---as he navigates middle school, friendships, discovering girls,
questioning his parents’ choice not to practice any religion as he sees his
friends going through religious rites and hears his grandfather’s stories of
being an Eastern European Jew at the beginning of World War II. Full of life and wonderment, Dave’s story
will resonate and strike a familiar chord with everyone who has survived middle
school in this beautiful coming of age story.

Killer Choice by Tom Hunt

Gary and Beth Foster are ecstatic---Beth is several months
pregnant with their first child and everything is going smoothly until one day
when Beth collapses and it is discovered she has a rare, inoperable brain
tumor. The one chance to save her life is
experimental, available only in Germany, and costs upwards of $200,000. Beth and Gary race to try and raise the
money, but the store Gary and his brother Rod just opened isn’t doing well and
while people are as generous as they can be, the money isn’t coming in fast
enough and the couple needs a miracle.
When Gary is approached by a stranger offering the money he knows it’s
too good to be true---and it is. The man
wants Gary to kill another man and walk away with $200,000 no questions
asked. Gary grapples this literally life
and death decision and soon there’s no turning back as Gary becomes enmeshed in
a web of lies and deceit and time is running out for everyone in this new twist
on a domestic thriller that will have everyone asking themselves how far they
would go to save someone they loved.

Blood Sisters by Jane Corey

Three girls leave for school one day: one dies, one, Kitty,
incurs a brain injury and fifteen years later is living in an institution
unable to speak, with no memory of how she came to be in this state. The third, Alison, is a local artist and
teacher who is trying to forget the past and work through her survivor’s
guild. When Alison accepts a job as an
artist at a prison, she begins receiving what she perceives as threatening
notes and feels that someone is watching her, menacing her, someone who knows
the truth as to what transpired fifteen years ago, and someone who is unwilling
to let go of the past. Told in two
voices, Alison’s and Kitty’s from inside her head, the plot slowly reveals bits
of plot with shocking twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of
their seats until all is revealed.

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Chinese by birth, sisters Miranda and Lucia protect and
cling to each other, especially after their mother dies. Lucia, the younger sister, begins hearing
voices and lives life impetuously and almost recklessly, marrying an older, but
reasonably stable man only to leave him and have a baby with an Ecuadorian who
is not in the country legally, and then move, with the baby, but not her lover,
to Ecuador. Miranda, older and more
responsible, is living in Switzerland and has returned to the United States
several times to try and save her sister, at great detriment to her own
relationship. How many times will she
have to save Lucia and at what point does her responsibility to her sister end,
question to which there are no easy answers in this novel that explores the
bonds between sisters beautifully.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sara Pekkanen

Psychological thrillers are taken to a completely new level
in this outrageously shocking and addictive debut. It is said there are two sides to every story
but in this case, there are three sides to this marriage. Richard appears to be the perfect catch,
handsome loving, attentive, and wealthy, but once you marry him he becomes a
terrifying trap from which it is impossible to escape. Trust no one in this multi—voice, fast-paced
narrative and make no assumptions. As
motivations are revealed, each character become more conniving and cunning than
the last. Don’t look away for a second
or something will be missed.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

James is a Member of Parliament and a crony of the current
Prime Minister. His wife Sophie feels
very lucky to have a loving, successful, handsome husband, a lovely home, and
two charming children. One woman
threatens to ruin it all with the secret she is about to reveal, but Sophie
doesn’t believe the young woman and vows to stand by James no matter what. Kate is the barrister who is to prosecute the
case, her specialty: high-profile sex crimes.
Kate is zealous in her prosecution as always, but this time is different
for Kate and she is determined James will be punished for his crimes…all of
them. Sophie and James have been
together since their time at Oxford, and there is something from those many
years ago that Sophie doesn’t know and could change everything if she finds
out. What starts out as a pretty
straight forward case…and story…quickly takes a sinister turn and takes readers
into dark places as the tension edges up and secrets are revealed.

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

Ellery Hathaway is a police officer in the quiet suburb of
Woodbury, MA where she is sleeping with the chief of police, Sam, and where she
waits each July around her birthday for another resident to disappear. Ellery, once Abigail, is the only person who
survived the serial killer Francis Coben who is on death row. Yet for the past three years, someone has
sent Ellery an anonymous birthday card and shortly after someone disappears and
is never found. Sam doesn’t think there
is any connection to Ellery’s kidnapping so she turns to the one person she
thinks will help her, FBI agent Reed Markham, the man who rescued her, the man
who has written the book about her case, and the man who is currently on leave
from the FBI after a botched case.
Markham has to investigate unofficially, but when a pair of hands
belonging to the first young woman who disappeared, Coben’s signature was to
remove the victim’s hands, appear on Ellery’s front porch she knows she isn’t
crazy and is more determined than ever to solve the case before there is
another victim. This first novel by the
winner of the
Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition is full
of twists and turns, and damaged characters.
Though then ending may feel a little rushed, and in need of a more
detailed motive, there is enough interest to keep readers turning the pages as
they follow Ellery, Markham, and Ellery’s dog Speed Bump down the dark road
into Ellery’s past which has found its way into her present.

Fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson has been missing for six
months, disappearing in the middle of one August night. His mother Claire has come apart, blaming
herself, and having dissociative episodes that make her wonder if deep down she
doesn’t know more than her conscience being knows. After another appeal for information about
Billy, Claire tries to return to work and a semblance of normal life, but she
quickly realizes her husband Mark has been keeping secrets, as has her
nineteen-year-old son Jake and his girlfriend Kira, who has been living with
the family recently. But what about Billy?
What secrets did he keep from his family and what, if anything, do those
secrets have to do with his disappearance?
This twisty turny plot is full of unreliable characters, including and
most of all, the one who is missing. As
Billy’s story starts to unfold, it becomes clear that he may hold the key to
his own disappearance.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Raymond Ambler, the curator of crime fiction at the New York
Public Library’s grand 42nd Street Library, has solved a crime or
two in his day. He is trying to gain
custody of the young grandson he just learned of, as his son is serving time in
state prison. Ambler is approached by
former NYPD cop and mystery author Paul Higgins who wants to donate his papers
to the library, but wants some of the papers to be kept under wraps. Shortly after, a young woman who has just
started working with Ambler and his colleague, sometimes date, Adele Morgan is
found murdered in Ambler’s office.
Ambler assumes that his pal homicide detective Mike Cosgrove will
investigate the case, but soon the Intelligence Division takes over and an
Islamic scholar who has been studying at the library, and with whom Adele has
struck up a friendship, becomes a person of interest. At the same time, Ambler is contacted by a
childhood friend who took the rap for the murder of a trucker’s union boss, he
believes his brother to have committed.
Now that the brother has died, Ambler’s friend wants to clear both their
names and maybe find the real murderer.
All of these events don’t seem related, but Ambler keeps an open mind
and before he knows it, pieces start to fall into place and his life is once
again at risk as he chases a killer.
There are so many disparate pieces to this mystery, it is hard to
believe they will all fall neatly into place, but neatly they do with plenty of
library lore and New York City history along the way; intelligent, thoughtful
characters add to this enjoyable mystery.

The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams

Nora Pennington has come to Miracle Springs, North Carolina
to escape her previous life and to heal.
Living in a converted caboose and helping visitors to her bookstore
Miracle Books, select books to help them heal, Nora has achieved a sense of
satisfaction if not peace. The owner of the Gingerbread House, Hester, can bake
comfort into her custom-made scones, while June works at the spa with hot
springs, and Estella has her salon to pamper visitors. Shortly after a visiting businessman has a
consultation with Nora, her is found dead on the train tracks, a death the
police quickly rule a suicide. Though
Nora knew Neil only a short time, she cannot believe Neil committed suicide and
turns to the three other woman, as damaged as she, to band together in order to
figure out what really happened to Neil, bring a killer to justice, and in the
process, learn to trust each other, and to heal from the past, and forgive
themselves. This first book in a new
series will welcome readers to the world of Miracle Springs and the warm,
caring women who live there. There are
very few surprises to the murder investigation, though one revelation at the
end is startling, adding a little more interest. It is the setting and the four main
characters that add charm and warmth to this mystery.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper

Chicago event planner Margot Cary has been fired after one
of her society galas goes spectacularly wrong control. Out of work with no hopes of getting an event
planning job in the country thanks to a viral You Tube video, Margot is
surprised when her great aunt Tootie invites Margot to the family compound in
Lake Sackett, Georgia to work in her estranged family’s funeral home/bait
shop. Margot has had no contact with the
McCready’s, including her father, since her mother moved from Lake Sackett with
Margot when Margot was a toddler.
Overwhelmed by her extended, gregarious family, and their small town
Southern ways, such as carbs, pork, and deep-frying everything, or knowing everyone’s
business before they know it themselves, Margot vows to lick her wounds and get
out of Lake Sackett as quickly as possible.
Slowly and surely, though, Margot realizes things aren’t all bad in Lake
Sackett: she likes her family, is getting to know her father, and has caught
the eye of the most eligible bachelor, elementary school principal Kyle Archer,
who as a widow with two young daughters, comes with his own set of issues. This first book in a new series welcomes
readers to Lake Sackett with eccentric, loving characters, and invites them to
sit and stay for a spell with a tall glass of sweet tea.

The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

Hanna Casey returns from London to her hometown on Ireland’s
West Coast peninsula of Finfarran after more than twenty-years of marriage,
which she has just learned has been a farce, with her teenage daughter Jazz in
tow. Working as a librarian in Lissbeg,
Hanna remains embittered five years later, still in her childhood home under
the scrutiny of her nagging mother, Jazz now living in France, a flight attendant
who visits from time to time. Determined
to take her life back, Hanna decides it is time to restore the rundown cottage
left to her by her great aunt Maggie.
Upon hearing that the town may close Hanna’s beloved library, she finds
herself fighting a battle on a second front to keep what she considers the
center of the town and to convince the naysayers that a town without a library
is a town without a heart. Driving
around the coast in her mobile library gives Hanna plenty of time to think and
plenty of encounters with people who often irk and irritate her, but whom she
comes to realize depend on Hanna and her mobile library not just for reading
materials but for companionship and community. This heart-warming novel is
perfect for book groups or anyone who adores libraries and recognizes that they
are more than a collection of books…they are a collection of community.

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Caroline Fraser

Using land records, letters, and diaries, this book provides
a detailed historical account of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
time during which Laura Ingalls grew up and wrote about in her famed
autobiographical novels. This
fascinating book provides context for many of the events described in the
Little House books and Wilder's writings as well as dispels any myths that her
daughter Rose was a ghostwriter for the beloved series. Told in great detail is the story, so often
left untold, of Laura as a young bride, then young mother, and a woman who
moved her family around to survive, and who suffered many great losses during
her lifetime, but somehow managed to turn these near defeats into something
cherished by generations to come. This
is a masterful tribute to the legendary author as well as the gripping
historical account of America is sure to have wide appeal.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Sweet Potatoes: Roasted, Loaded, Fried, and Made into Pie by
Mary-Frances Heck

Sweet potatoes often get a bum rap, prepared as the
ubiquitous and gratuitous mashed, marshmallow covered dish on many Thanksgiving
tables. This cloyingly sweet dish,
however does a disservice to the complex tasting, nutrient packed tuber. Sweet potatoes are available year round, come
in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, from the most widely known orange
fleshed to a white fleshed and a purple fleshed. While these root vegetables are a perfect
vehicle for almost any flavor, they lend themselves particularly well to
citrus, more aromatic herbs and spices such as cayenne, cinnamon, garlic, and
ginger, and also blend well with many proteins, dairy, meat and poultry, and
nuts and seeds. Heck takes cooks through
a variety of ways to prepare sweet potatoes beginning with the basics:
steaming, roasting, puree, and French fries, and then moves on to appetizers
with big (and sometimes surprising flavors): Veggie Temaki, and buffalo seasonings.
Soups and stews include sweet potatoes were traditional white potatoes are
found, Chicken and dumplings, chowders, and with braised sausage and
beans. Side dishes, salads, and main dishes
each offer new ideas for uses and will have home cooks thinking “where else can
I use sweet potatoes?” The Brad and Baked Goods section uses sweet potato puree
for the basis of a very tender, structured dough (yeast and quick) that can be
turned into a variety of baked goods.
Sweet potatoes will add extra nutrition to chocolate babka and cinnamon
rolls, and make the basis of a galette that will be a vehicle for a variety of
toppings, sweet, and savory. Where will
sweet potatoes turn up in your cooking next?

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from theBlogging for Booksprogram in exchange for
this review.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

The Summer Reading Club may have ended, but there's no reason to stop reading! As the nights grow cooler, cozy up with one of these new books...

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

Six days a week, in rural North Carolina in 1929, Ella May
Wiggins, mother of four, makes a two-mile trip to American Mill No. 2 where she
works a night shift earning nine dollars for a 72-hour week.The mill is a prime target for burgeoning
union activities with the promise of better working conditions and better pay;
Ella May is all for unionizing, but at what cost to her family, friends, and
community?Seventy-five years later,
Ella May’s daughter Lilly writes her nephew telling the story of his courageous
grandmother, revealing the events that led up to one fateful night in 1929 that
changed everything.Other voices weave
in and out, telling Ella May’s story, a story based on actual people and
events, and the origins of the American Labor Movement in this soulful novel
with gorgeous prose and carefully drawn characters, belying the sorrow and
tragedy it relates. A www.libraryreads.org/ pick for October.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

This prequel to Practical
Magic takes readers back a generation to the 1950’s and 1960’s when the
three Owens children are born and raised in New York City, warned by their
mother Susanna to charges her children to stay away from her hometown in
Massachusetts, avoid moonlight, Ouija Boards, red shoes, Downtown Manhattan,
and never fall in love. Franny, Jet, and
Vincent know they are different from other children, but don’t realize there
family, especially women, have been cursed since 1620 when their ancestor was
accused of being a witch because she loved the wrong man. Franny, the eldest, is the most brooding with
her pale skin and shocking red hair; Jet is the beauty and can intuit what
others are thinking; Vincent, more of a free spirit, has been doing his own
thing since he was born. When Franny
turns seventeen she is summoned by her aunt Isabelle to come to the Owens’s
home town. She brings her brother and
sister, setting each on a dangerous course, courses that will change their
lives and the lives of those they love.
There is something magical about the way Alice Hoffman writes, as she
guides these three siblings from childhood to adulthood, as they learn to live,
and to love and above all, be true to themselves.

Daphne Parrish is leading the perfect life: or so Amber thinks. Daphne is pretty enough, has a lovely house
on the Connecticut shore, is married to billionaire Jackson Parrish who seems
to adore her, and has two bright young daughters. And Amber wants her life, or at least her
husband. Amber finds a way to insinuate
herself into Daphne’s life by claiming she, like Daphne, had a sister who died
of Cystic Fibrosis, first being part of a fund raiser for the CF foundation
Daphne started and runs, and then by becoming the best friend Daphne so
desperately needs, all the while plotting to become the next Mrs. Parrish,
leaving Daphne and her two daughters out in the cold. Little by little, Amber works her way into
Jackson Parrish’s life, first as his assistant at work and then in his bed, all
the while not knowing the terrible secret Daphne harbors, and not knowing that
Daphne in turn knows the dirty secret Amber has been hiding, two secrets that
will ruin everything for both women if they let them. Written by sisters, this
intricately plotted book has characters as despicable as they come and
characters who will be sympathized with even though they seem to have it
all. Fast-paced, the narrative propels
this book forward toward one final “gotcha”.

M.J. Stark thinks she has it all: she’s about to be appointed
editor-in-chief at her dream job at a New York City magazine and a gorgeous
doctor for a boyfriend, though he does live on the West Coast. When her
promotion doesn’t happen exactly as planned, M.J. takes off for Pearl Beach,
California, convincing herself and others that she has given up her career to
live with her true love Dan. M.J. finds
herself at loose ends in California and becomes friendly with Dan’s next-door
neighbor Gloria, who readers know was part of a Dirty Book Club fifty years
before. When Gloria’s husband dies
unexpectedly, she jets off to Paris to fulfill the promise the club members
made to each other to live in Paris together when they were all single. Each of the original (and only) four members
of the Dirty Book Club have chosen a young woman to take her place in the club
and M.J. finds herself invited to be a member along with Addie, the wild one of
the group, Jules, the romantic, and Britt, the hard-working mother and wife who
doesn’t realize what is going on under her own roof. The four women are as different as oil and
water and have no real interest in getting to know each other or in keeping the
club together, but little by little, each grudgingly realizes they need a
change in their life and begin to confide in one another and learn to be honest
with each other and themselves. Readers
see M.J. as the main protagonist work through why she left New York and came to
California, and what she must do in order to be true to herself and her
dreams. Harrison’s first adult novel
sometimes has a high school mean girl feel to it, and the only insight readers get into the
original women of the DBC is through letters each left in specific books, but
overall is a breezy, fast-paced read with a certain amount of appeal.

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is a born police officer
and working in her hometown of Smithson in Australia gives her an edge, as she
knows a lot of the history and secrets of the residents. She is not as disciplined in her personal
life, however, living with the father of her young son, resisting his requests
to get married, and carrying on an affair with her married partner Felix. Rosalind Ryan, an English teacher at the
school where she taught English and drama, and that she attended with Gemma, is
found floating in the lake, her body surrounded with red roses, on the night after
her triumphant production of her retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The town is stunned, and no one can believe
Rose was murdered, but her death opens up long repressed memories for Gemma and
she is forced to revisit her high school years to try and learn what she is
missing, the events and actions that might have lead up to this ten years
later. Gemma’s past and present are
about to collide in unexpected ways as she must struggle to finally come to
terms with her ex-boyfriend’s suicide, the mess she and Felix are making of
their personal lives, and uncover Rose’s secrets, past and present, to solve
her murder, in this taut debut novel with a complex, yet sympathetic
protagonist.

If You Knew My Sister by Michelle Adams

Irini Harringford’s parents gave her away to live with her
aunt and uncle when she was three-years-old though she has never been told
why.Irini has tried to live a normal
life, is now a doctor, and has tried not to worry about why she was given away
instead of her older sister Elle.Irini
and Elle were never close, either as sisters or cousins, though Elle has
appeared at different times throughout Irini’s life, mostly causing trouble for
Irini, though it seems at the time Elle has come to her rescue.After six years, Irini thinks she has
exercised Elle from her life when she gets a phone call from Elle that their
mother has died and Irini should come to Scotland for the funeral.Hoping to put her past to bed once and for
all, Irini makes the journey but realizes that her sister still has a hold over
Irini and she finds herself drawn back into her family’s history of secrets and
lies, and becomes determined to find the truth about why she was given away,
even though it is much more complicated and twisted than she ever
imagined.The tension builds as Irini’s
past is slowly revealed, culminating in a secret few will have seen coming.

Odd Child Out
by Gilly Macmillan

Noah Sadler
has lived with childhood cancer for most of his life. In and out of treatments, when he is finally
able to return to school he feels like an outsider except for Abdi Mahad, a
Somali immigrant, who immediately befriends him and the two become best
friends. Now, the night of Noah’s
father’s controversial photography exhibit, Noah is found floating unconscious
in Bristol’s Feeder Canal, Abdi the only witness and Abdi appears to be in
shock and isn’t, or can’, tell anyone what happened. Detective Inspector Jim Clemo, just back from
leave after his last tragic case, is assigned to investigate what looks like a
terrible accident. As Clemo
investigates, he sees the incident is not as cut and dried as it looks, and learns
there may be a deeper connection to Edward Sadler’s latest photo exhibit of
refugee camps than anyone suspected. Two
families are in pain, over the potential loss of Noah and over the tragedy of
Abdi being with him at the time of the accident and the loss of his best
friend. Accusations begin tearing apart the
community, making each family face truths they were not ready to reveal to
anyone, including themselves, but must do in order to heal. This heartbreaking novel is satisfying on
many levels: a well-paced mystery, psychological suspense, and empathetic
characters in impossible situations facing impossible dilemmas.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Author:
Matthew SullivanStars:
5Review by: Judy EA
first novel for Matt Sullivan...a real hit for me. I read this book in 2
days over Labor Day...the vibrant characters, descriptions of the
bookstore and its Bookfrogs, and
the happenings really caught my attention. Lydia and the Hammerman will draw you into this mystery big time.

Author:
Pat ConroyStars:
4Review by: BeachBarbSo,
I haven't quite finished this book, but it was a goal of mine to read
it this summer after visiting Beaufort in the spring and buying the only
Pat Conroy book in the book
store, A Lowcountry Heart, Reflections on a Writing Life. I enjoyed
reading that, and it whet my appetite to re-read some of his more well
known books. Even though I am only 42% finished with this book, I am
determined to finish before I declare summer over.
I am enjoying it better than I did when I read it years ago. We have
also watched the movie early this summer.

Author:
Catriona McPhersonStars:
2Review by: Lizzytish
Set in the 1920's in a small town in Scotland. The Burryman is a
tradition that's carried out every year. I don't know why, but it was
not a smooth read. The writing seemed choppy and the plot was confusing
at time. I could not relate with any of the characters
or feel for them. Just an odd read for me. Near the end it became more
enjoyable.

Author:
Te-Nahisi CoatesStars:
5Review by: Brooke SWow - did not expect this short (~150 pages) book to grip me so hard and
fast. Written from the perspective of a one-sided conversation with his
son, Mr. Coates discussed and explores life as a black man in America.
Poignant and gut-wrenching realities, but written with such moving and
clear language and history, Toni Morrison is correct, this should be
'required reading.'

Author:
Roald DahlStars:
5Review by: Brooke S
Collection of (adult) short stories [some of which were mentioned in
Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of AJ Fikry]. I had not read his
short before and they were dark and funny.

Author:
Gabrielle ZevinStars:
5Review by: Brooke S
Read in under 24 hours - a quick, delightful read. We are reading for
our book club, and this prompted me to read up on some of the many
literature references in the book - another welcome digression.

Author:
Roald DahlStars:
5Review by: Brooke S
I re-read this book with my 9
year old (read one book together each summer) - and this is my favorite
Dahl book. The close and dear relationship between father and son is
heart warming, and the adventures of the big
secret methods of poaching tickled my daughter. Fun read!

Author:
Terry BolryderStars:
3Review by: Saraswati
This is a story with vague references to other stories of Bolryder. This
is about a couple of dragons looking to find their mates and refuse to
look at what's right in front of them.

Author:
Olivia ArranStars:
3Review by: Saraswati
This series is about a town
of registered shifters and focuses on the bears that patrol South 1 side
of town and a group of purists that want to destroy them. The bears are
Nate, Jake, Brent, Cade and Austin. There
is a lot going on in this series and has a few spin off series to read.

Author:
Ruby LionsdrakeStars:
3Review by: Saraswati
This a continuation of the previous stories and picks up where our main
characters are stranded in another universe when the gate they travel
through does not allow them to go back. The series makes jokes about the
links with the Star Gate TV/Movie series.

Author:
Ellen MeisterStars:
3Review by: argee17
"To hear her relatives tell it, you would think she was the love child
of Oscar Wilde and Fran Lebowitz..." Since I'm a fan of both, this was a
fun read.

Author:
Raina TelgemeierStars:
4Review by: Miss Lucy
What would the Summer Reading Club be without a graphic novel?!! Ghosts
is a beautifully illustrated book about Dia de Los Muertos. It explains
this annual Mexican tradition in a tender, non-threatening way, via a
loving story about sisters, friends, and family... and dearly departed
ancestors, of course!

Author:
Jack WelchStars:
3Review by: Summer Breeze
He could have dug a lot deeper, instead it was filled with a lot of
corporate clichés. Although he is venerated in the business community,
his company has not recovered in the 16 years since he left, so it was
difficult
to believe anything I read.

Build a Better World

The 11th Annual Adult Summer Reading Club has come to a close.

The club's 157 members have read a total of 1,515 books!

Thank you, all, for your enthusiastic participation.

Quote to Inspire

"Fiction, imaginative work that is, is not dropped like a pebble upon the ground, as science may be; fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners."~Virginia Woolf

11th Annual

To see a larger image of this graph, look through the member reviews. It will usually be posted on Friday afternoons.

How to Use this Blog:

To post a review for a book, please submit it via the "Finished a Book" link from the club's webpage: http://www.hclibrary.us/asrc.htm.

Because all posts & comments must be approved by the library, and because the librarians sometimes take summer vacations too, there will be a delay before you see your submission on the blog. Please be patient; your review will appear.